Alumafiesta 2013

[Condoluminum]

Wow! Had a great time, and kudo's to Rich and Brent and their wives for putting together a great week in Tucson.. LazyDays was great location, providing terrific spaces (ripe grapefruit on tree outside our door..), great meeting tent with stage and buffet line and bar service, plus WiFi and easy access to their 50 Bay Service shop next door..

Highlights for us included glass blowing/art school and Pima Air Museum (one of largest in US with more than 300 aircraft indoors and outdoors), plus tours of downtown and local area (including 240 year old Mission built by Franciscans up from Mexico) and amazing tour of obscure Franklin Autombile Museum, with largest collectoin of Franklin cars in the world, hidden in residential neighborhood with dirt roads on Tucson outskirts... Really enjoyed Antsy McClain concert as well, which ran longer than 2 hours, and was then followed by break and "After concert" for those bold enough to stick around in cool tent... The World's largest Gem and Mineral and Bead Show was going on around us in 31 different venues and tents, providing free shopping and entertainment on the side.. We met a lot of new friends, and enjoyed the warm weather during the week.

We were able to drive in via Palm Springs (stopped early to watch Super Bowl) and then via Scottsdale and the Frank Lloyd Wright home and school at Taliesin West.. Absolutely amazing, and enjoyed private tour in late afternoon Monday learning about Wright's firmly held ideas on building and furniture designs.

Looks like dates set for next year to repeat (LazyDays is new Airstream dealer, and was very supportive of event..). Rich indicated that several new events and tours will likely be added next year, which might well be enough to get us to do another 1,700 mile round trip to get there.. AlumaFandango in August in Oregon is also now a possibility...

John McG

[Pahaska]

What he said!

We had a great trip and the rally was precisely what a rally should be; something for everyone and well organized at every step. The only downer was the terrible wifi at the park.

[rluhr]

Thanks, guys. I'm glad you had a good time.

We talked to the campground management about the wifi issues on the first day of the event. They said they were working on it. Hopefully it will be rock solid for 2014. Otherwise, they did a fantastic job all around, so we'll definitely be back.

We've already got our dates picked out, by the way: Feb 4-9. Registration is open online. The event schedule will be very different next year, just because we want to make it worth John McG's drive!

Anyone else got pictures to share? I was so busy I didn't get a chance to take any!

[Charlie M]

1. Old Tucson (movie being shot; "Hot Bath-Stiff Drink." 2. B-17 Bomber 3. Antsy and us.

[Condoluminum]

I suspect WiFi issues related to increasing numbers of users trying to share limited bandwidth.. With 470 spaces filled and hundreds trying to check e-mails and do downloads, something had to give.. AT&T and Verizon solid, but our Sprint MiFi device wasn't very robust either.. Should we reallly be whining about cable channels or WiFi when "camping"??? What would Wally say....

We added a few miles to the trip by looping around Phoenix to Scottsdale for Taliesin West and Frank Lloyd Wright Home/studio/school, which was amazing, but at 2 1/2 hours from Tucson might make a daunting day trip next year.. Pictures below, including front view of Taliesin Main Building, typical site with gravel, fruit tree, concrete patio with table and chairs. Also picture of basement dining room at El Charro and line of 1950's fighters parked and preserved outside at Pima Air and Space Museum...

[Pahaska]

Some of us need the wifi for more than downloading trivia. It was more than just the load on the wifi. The wifi was pretty bad even in the wee small hours of the night.

[Schools Out]

Yes, the wifi was terrible...But, Alumafiesta was great. Rich & Brent you did a great job & had more activities then we could do. So, we stayed an extra week & made it to Old Tucson, Sabino Canyon, the old mission & more. Here are a few more pictures.